Etymograph

English

ricotta

Ricotta comes from Italian ricotta, from Latin recoctus ‘recooked’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- ‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-1‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’next step skipped: Latin recoquō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecoctus1as recocta‘recooked’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentricotta1literally ‘cooked again’
  4. Englishtodayricotta1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ricotta

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pekʷ-Wiktionary, English ricotta‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’next step skipped: Latin recoquō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecoctusWiktionary, English ricottaas recocta‘recooked’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentricottaWiktionary, English ricottaliterally ‘cooked again’
  4. EnglishtodayricottaWiktionary, English ricotta

The story

Borrowed from Italian ricotta (literally “cooked again”), from Latin recocta.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- ‘to crack, crush (foodstuff), pulverize (grain)’

coach, kitchen, cook, pumpkin, cuisine, culinary, kiln, concoction, quitter, concoct, dyspepsia, peptic, decoction, 14 more

Today it means

noun A soft Italian unsalted whey cheese resembling cottage cheese.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ricotta”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- / ricotta

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